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Design Readings

Listen to Adrienne Massanari’s “Personas and politics: The Discursive Construction of The User” talk at IA Summit 2009

Adrienne Massanari, Instructor of New/Digital Media in the School of Communication at Loyola University – Chicago, assesses the problematic relationship between new media designers and “users” in texts written about user-centered design […]

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China Innovation Trend Watching

Architecture & Urban Planning in China: Smart future showcased at Shanghai World Expo

With heavy coverage from newspapers and television, you may have become quite familiar with the theme of the Shanghai World Expo – “Better City, Better Life.”[…]

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China Trend Watching

Living in China: 50% of new expats leave China early

Almost half of new expatriates leave China early because they have difficulty adjusting to the lifestyle, a consultancy firm said. China Transition Institute (CTI) president David Israel-Rosen said most foreigners are unprepared for what life will be like when they arrive in China. “It is moving from the West to the East,” he said. “It is not like moving from Chicago to Denver: if you look at the literature, between 30 percent and 50 percent of expats go home early. The failure rates are astonishing.” […]

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Design Innovation

Watch Marc Rettig’s “How to Change Complicated Stuff” talk at IxDA | Interaction ’09 Conference

In this talk Marc Rettig offers insights into the question “what is it like to actually achieve a meaningful, sustainable, positive difference in life?”, drawing lessons from a number of serious, heartfelt attempts to affect change. The work we have all done in recent decades has prepared us to take on much bigger challenges. The foundations of design remain powerfully effective. That said, there are ways in which “designing for change” requires additions to our inventory of methods, and transformations in the way we plan and conduct our work […]

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China

Architecture & Urban Planning in China: Shanghai is the world’s 4th tallest city

Shanghai made it to 4th place in Forbes’ list of the world’s tallest cities with a total of 21 towers climbing over 700 feet. The current tallest is the Shanghai World Financial Center, at 1,614 feet, but it’ll be surpassed by the Shanghai Tower, which is expected to be completed in 2014 and reach heights of 2,000 feet. It was beat out by Dubai, Hong Kong and, at number one, New York City […]

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Design Information Technology Innovation Software

IDEA 2008 Podcasts: Jason Fried’s “Getting Real” presentation

Jason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals, a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary. Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people’s desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of 37signals products…

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China

Living in China: Preview of PBS documentary “Jesus in China”

Preview of a groundbreaking documentary, Jesus in China, by Evan Osnos on PBS Frontline/World. Osnos also reports of the explosive growth of evangelical Christianity in the Chicago Tribune, and notes how underground churches in China these days are, well, not so underground anymore. watch the preview (from YouTube).